RTD: A meeting, but no movement on Medicaid

By Travis Fain tfain@dailypress.comDaily Press

House Republicans met with Gov. Terry McAuliffe yesterday to talk Medicaid and the budget, but the gathering seems to have gone much like previous efforts, producing no movement, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

It's a familiar tune, filled with most of the same talking points you should be used to seeing by now, except neither side called a full press conference afterward. Also, we see evidence of one of the governor's newer refrains in this debate: noting the number of conservative governors who found a way to expand Medicaid:

McAuliffe even went a step further, suggesting the state could pursue expansion in a manner similar to that sought by Republican Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana.

Pence has proposed taking the expansion money with some conservative-friendly conditions such as enrolling people in private insurance plans, requiring some to pay premiums and others to pursue work, while limiting emergency room visits. The proposal is under review and will be submitted to Washington in the next several weeks. IF it were approved Indiana would be the 27th state to accept expansion, including a number of states run by conservative Republican governors.

The McAuliffe aide said the proposals were "rejected out of hand." by House speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights.